


In Which Asami Studies Historical Avatars

by jorlau



Series: In Which Korrasami is Canon [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Character of Color, Canon Queer Character, Canon Queer Character of Color, Canon Queer Relationship, F/F, Gender Identity, Queer Character, Queer fictional history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-01 17:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2781713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jorlau/pseuds/jorlau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Okay, back up a moment,” cut in Opal, sounding determined. “You said that more Avatars had relationships with both men and women than you would expect...."</p><p>Asami Sato studied the lives of past Avatars a lot when Korra was away. Opal and Bolin have finally figured out why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. History Lessons

“Well, so much for peace and quiet,” Bolin grumbled, laying down his newspaper with a long-suffering expression.

Asami, who was idling on a set of cushions in the corner, and Opal, who was making tea, looked up at him with guarded expressions. It was the first day of their vacation on Kyoshi Island, and they were waiting for Korra (who had insisted she couldn't take a vacation, but eventually been persuaded otherwise) to wake up.

“All right, let's hear it,” Opal said warily. “What's happening now?”

“There's apparently these two villages, Wen and Wao, that have been feuding for generations. Only someone from Wen learned some things fighting Kuvira and went home and started terrorizing Wao, and the people of Wao responded by organizing a real fighting force, and they've both dragged some neighboring towns into it, and now it's looking like it'll be a war. And the area's not at all stable, so there's nobody nearby to come in and stop them. Half the airbenders in the region are working on it now.” Bolin waved his hands in frustration.

“What are Wen and Wao feuding over?” Opal wanted to know.

“I don't know,” Bolin frowned irritably at the newspaper.

“I do,” Asami interjected. “It goes back to the famous General Wo, the first leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. The people of Wen maintain that General Wo's true love was a local lord called Jen, whereas the people of Wao say it was a pirate king called Tao. They've been feuding since sometime in the first five years after Wo died; the Waoites say the Wenites are trying to pretend Wo was domesticated and had terrible taste in men, while the Wenites claim the Waoites are promoting piracy and ignoring solid historical evidence.”

“Wait a minute!” Bolin was staring wide-eyed. “You're telling me they've been at war for hundreds of years over which of one woman's possible love interests she actually dated?”

“Over which one she should have dated, really.” Asami smirked. “The really funny part is that most historians who aren't from the region agree that Wo was never involved with either one, and the closest she had to a 'true love' was Avatar Kyoshi.”

“You're kidding,” Bolin exclaimed. “You mean they're waging a war over something they're both completely wrong about?”

“Yep,” Asami laughed at his expression.

“So was Kyoshi – I mean, were she and Wo–“ Opal began, hesitantly, her eyes darting from Bolin to Asami and back as though hoping one of them would clear it up.

“Yep,” said Asami again. “It's pretty definite. They were together for at least twenty years.”

There was a pause, during which Opal and Bolin looked at each other and back to Asami, who reddened slightly. Then Opal asked, cautiously, “Avatar Kyoshi lived for more than two hundred years, didn't she? She must have had a lot of relationships.”

“Seven long-term ones we know about,” said Asami promptly.

“And – all with women?” Opal pressed.

“No,” Asami said. “Five of them were women, but the others were men. The first leader of the Dai Li was one, for example.”

“Huh,” Bolin said, looking thoughtful.

“That's not that unusual,” Asami said, after another pause during which Bolin and Opal exchanged a volley of glances that seemed to be some advanced form of couple-communication unintelligible to the others and carefully avoided looking at the door through which Korra would presumably eventually emerge. “Lots of Avatars have had relationships with both men and women. More than you'd expect, I mean. Avatar Huang wrote a whole book about Avatars and gender, and while there aren't any known copies of it left, we do have some writings from people who read it; it seems Avatar Huang believed that the Avatar spirit is fundamentally non-gendered and–“ she broke off, realizing that both of her friends were staring at her in bewilderment.

“You've researched this?” Opal asked, throwing another glance at Bolin that seemed somehow smug.

“Well, not directly,” Asami said, feeling her face grow hot. “I was researching the past Avatars while Korra was away, because I thought if she couldn't communicate with them it might be useful to learn as much as I could. And Avatar Huang was so interesting, I spent a lot of time trying to find out more about them, which is difficult because Chin the Conqueror destroyed a lot of information about past Avatars and someone about a century earlier apparently took exception to Huang specifically. So I had to dig pretty deep to find out anything.”

“You studied the past Avatars?” Bolin demanded. “Why didn't you ever mention it? Or did you just tell Korra?”

“I didn't tell her,” Asami admitted. “I guess I was waiting until I was sure she was really better, and then we've both been pretty busy. And I thought I should tell her first.”

“What else about Avatar Huang?” Opal wanted to know.

“Well, Huang was genderless,” Asami began. “According to what I've read, nobody's even sure any more what gender Huang was raised as, but they rejected it and people seem to have accepted Huang as non-gendered from a fairly early age. Huang was a scholar who traveled around studying cultures and identities, and wrote books about different ways people categorized themselves, like the nations, or class, as well as some books about past Avatars and the nature of the Avatar. The only one of Huang's books that still survives as far as anyone knows is about how benders and non-benders think about each other and bending. I've read it. It's really interesting, and amazing how little that's changed.”

“Okay, back up a moment,” cut in Opal, sounding determined. “You said that more Avatars had relationships with both men and women than you would expect. Was that from Huang?”

“No, that's from other scholars,” Asami said. “We only know about some Avatars, recent ones and really famous ones – did you realize we don't even know how many there have been? – and we don't know about all of the relationships any of them had. But only about sixty percent of the Avatars' relationships we know about were with someone of the opposite sex. If Avatars were like everyone else, we'd expect ninety percent or more, wouldn't we?”

“Sixty percent?” Opal said, now definitely smug-sounding.

“58.73%, really.” Bolin and Opal were staring at Asami again. She blushed crimson.

“58.73,” repeated Bolin. “Why on Earth do you have that memorized? Who calculates that kind of thing, anyway?”

“I was just curious!” Asami blurted, and then realized that she'd just admitted to calculating it herself. She went even redder and gazed fixedly at her hands.

Opal and Bolin stared at her, then at each other. They were both grinning.

“So... you seem awfully... interested in the Avatar.” Opal's tone of studied innocence was so pronounced Asami wanted to hit her.

“I can't believe I never realized! You two are so close, and when she left....” Bolin's voice trailed off. Asami had been so miserable as Korra's weeks of recovery time turned to months and years without a word. Bolin might not be the most sensitive guy in the world, but he had tact enough not to want to drag his friend through that again.

“It's not–“ Asami began, and then broke off. After a moment, she sighed. “All right. I am... interested. I don't even know how long it's been, not really. But what's important is that she's my friend. I never want to risk that, not even if there is a 41.27% chance she might feel the same way about me.”

Opal, whose upbringing had included a fairly rigorous mathematical education, refrained from pointing out that the odds of Korra liking women weren't necessarily the same as the odds of Korra liking Asami specifically. They were probably close enough, anyway; most people who were attracted to women seemed to consider Asami a prime specimen.

“Aw, come on, Asami,” Bolin protested. “You both dated Mako and you're still friends with him! Why wouldn't you be able to tell her how you feel?” He got out of his chair to put one arm around Asami's shoulders and stretch the other dramatically skyward. “In the pursuit of love, you have to be bold! Reach for the stars! We need a plan of action. How's this–“

Asami stood up quickly. She didn't want to think what kind of romantic schemes Bolin might devise given the chance. “I'll, uh, I'll just go talk to her.”

“What's her deal?” demanded Bolin as Asami fled for the stairs.

“I think she just wants to figure it out for herself, Bolin,” Opal said soothingly.

“I just hope she doesn't do something stupid to show off, or something,” Bolin fretted.

Opal smirked. “Look who's talking.”

“Hey!” Bolin protested.

“Anyway,” Opal went on, ignoring him. “I think Asami knows how to handle this sort of thing. Bet you they're a couple by the time we leave.”

Bolin considered. “Uh... nah, I'm not taking that one.”

 

“Hey, Korra,” Asami said, putting her head cautiously around the Avatar's bedroom door. “You do know it's afternoon, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Korra said, her voice sounding strangely over-cheerful. She was leaning out the window, not looking towards Asami. “I mean, of course. I was just, uh, deciding what to wear.”

Asami, who knew that Korra had packed a collection of virtually identical outfits for the trip, raised one eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

“What? Yes! Why wouldn't I be okay?” Korra turned around and hit her head on the windowsill. “Ow!”

Asami stared at her. “What is the matter with you today?”

“Nothing! Nothing's the matter, I'm just... really tired. Boy, it's a good thing you guys convinced me to come on vacation. I guess I didn't realize how much I needed it.” Korra laughed uncomfortably, rubbing her injured head.

Asami closed her eyes for a moment as the realization flooded in. “You... heard me talking to Bolin and Opal, didn't you?”

“What?” Korra said again. “No! That is, yes, but not much, I mean, I don't really know what you were....”

 _Shit_ , thought Asami. _Of course._ “What did you hear?”

“Stuff! About Avatars!” Korra was really babbling now. “I never met Huang, so I was interested in hearing about them, and I sort of forgot it was eavesdropping, and then....”

“When did you leave?” Asami asked hopelessly.

“When Bolin started saying that stuff about stars,” Korra said, almost normally but embarrassment stamped across her features.

“Oh,” Asami said in a flat tone.

“Yeah,” Korra drew a deep breath and met Asami's eyes squarely. “Look, I like you too, okay? I just, I don't know, I guess I thought if you were interested you'd let me know, because you're so confident and you probably never had anyone turn you down for a date in your life.”

Completely blindsided, Asami stared,  frozen to the spot with shock.

“Uh, can I kiss you?” Korra asked awkwardly after a moment.

_That_ snapped Asami out of it. She closed the distance between them in an instant and wrapped her arms around Korra's waist, flashing her most winning smile. It was Korra's turn to be dazed.

“I thought pretty much the same things about you,” said Asami when they eventually broke apart. “You know, you're so assertive and amazing, you'd make your feelings clear if you had any....”

Korra laughed and drew her  in for another kiss.

 

“I knew it!” Opal said gleefully as soon as Korra and Asami stepped through the vacation house's door.

“You could have told me,” Korra and Asami said together, and laughed.

“Wow!” Bolin exclaimed. “This is great! Two happy couples, on vacation together, all happy. What could possibly make this any better?”

“Guys?” A familiar voice floated towards them from the gate. “Uh, sorry to not warn you ahead of time, but Wu kind of found out you'd gone on vacation here and he insisted we join you, so....”

“Mako!” Bolin cried happily. “Hey, you're just in time! Guess what?”


	2. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's still a feud to try to resolve here. Or, what not to name your baby.

“How'd it go?” Mako demanded as Korra and Opal landed in front of their assembled friends.

“Well, we set up a meeting between the mayors of Wen and Wao, but...” Korra grimaced.

“What happened?” Asami asked, looking at her with a worried frown.

“The mayor of Wen is named Jen-Is-The-Greatest Cao III.” Opal said slowly.

“The third?” Bolin said incredulously, his eyebrows twisting so they looked like caterpillars doing an elaborate dance.

“It gets worse,” Korra sounded simultaneously glum and amused. “The mayor of Wao is named Wao-Supporter-For-Life Chang, and she's married to a man named Wao-Is-Canon Liu. What does 'canon' even mean?”

“Usually it means official doctrine in a religion,” Asami said, suppressing a laugh.

“Given the people of Wao built their religion on the belief that Wo and Tao were together, I wouldn't call that a meaningful name.” Mako commented.

“It means they're so obsessed with their sides of the stupid debate that they've been naming their children after their opinions on the subject for generations!” Korra snapped. “Brokering a truce between these towns is going to be like pulling teeth from Koh the Face Stealer.”

They all considered this. “How would you–“ Bolin began eventually.

“Exactly my point,” Korra said, exasperated. “It will be really hard.”

“Well, look at it this way,” Wu said, annoyingly cheerful. “If we do manage it, maybe they'll start giving their children better names, like–“

“Korra-Is-The-Greatest,” suggested Asami.

“Korrasami-Is-Canon,” put in Bolin.

“How about Bopal-Supporter-For-Life?” Asami countered.

“Bopal? Seriously?” Mako protested. “That doesn't even sound like a name!”

“Wait, how does Korrasami sound like a name but not Bopal?” Bolin demanded, sounding hurt.

“I kind of like Bopal,” Wu said, thoughtfully. “Would that be a boy's name or a girl's?”

“I don't know, it sounds gender-neutral to me,” Asami said, equally thoughtful. “Especially when you add Supporter-For-Life to it. There's nothing gendered about supporting something for life, is there?”

“I really hope none of you ever get to name any children,” Mako told them severely.

Korra had been following the exchange with growing amusement. Now she snickered. “I'm imagining a teenaged Bopal-Supporter-For-Life coming up to you and saying, 'Uncle Mako, why did my parents give me such a weird name?' and you saying, 'it was your dad, I said you should have been named Lee, but he wouldn't listen, and your mom just went along with his idea'.”

“I probably won't get to name any children if I'm adopting war orphans, so you don't have to worry about me,” Wu reassured Mako.

“Wait, you're adopting orphans?” Bolin said with some surprise.

“Well, it's going to be a team effort between me and Mako, because it would be too hard alone,” Wu explained. “We've been talking about it because there are so many of them and it seems like the right thing to do, you know?”

There was silence as everyone contemplated Mako and Wu as joint adoptive parents. Then Korra shook her head, hard. “Uh, that's great, Wu. So, about this war....”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like the initial ship war really should be revisited, and after the finale, realizing I could fit the phrase "Korrasami is canon" into the actual text was too much for me to handle. So, more silliness ensued.

**Author's Note:**

> Things it turns out I can't resist: Asami geeking out about queer Avatar theory, Mako getting surprise-Korrasami'd, ship wars being serious business.
> 
> Avatar Huang's name is taken from the Chinese version of the phoenix (fènghuáng, "fèng" being a male entity and "huáng" a female one that together make up one feminine entity, according to highly reliable internet resources).


End file.
